Secrets
by Redtail53
Summary: During a routine trading mission, Sheppard falls ill. At the same time, Major Lorne discovers a people thought long dead. Massive rewrite in progress. Please read A/N in chapter 1 for more info. Chapter 5 up.
1. I

Alright. So, I know it's been a long while since you all have heard or seen anything for Secrets. I am, however pleased to say that after a 3 season marathon of SGA and a nice kick in the pants from several friends, I'm working on it again.

I read the story over again, as well as the reviews I've gotten over the course of the story. I noticed lots of things that need fixing, and not just grammar and spelling – though those two are large ones. The reviews that I found most helpful were:

**Drakcir**: "...it tends to jump between the different groups of people a bit too fast."

**Pavlova Lamington**: "Overall, the chapters seem a little short and disjointed, and I get the impression you're rushing through things a bit ..."

Now, even though these were from older versions of two chapters, they still hold a lot of truth – and both deal with the speed of the story as a whole. That said, I'm going to be redoing each chapter, and slowing the story down considerably – spelling things out better and giving the readers a better idea of what's going on – instead of just leaving the guess work to them. I've also filled several plot holes I found.

So. If you have any points or tips to bring out. Please do so.

Chapter 1 is mostly the same, added some stuff, took some out and changed the wording on a lot of things. I'm going to try to get a new chapter up every other week. Enjoy.

**CHAPTER I**

Early morning missions were something John didn't really favor. Still bleary-eyed and not all that happy, he was never a morning person, particularly as a kid. He'd rather be sleeping in than anything else. But, get up he did. Like it or not.

He rubbed his face with his hand in a vain effort to feel more awake, but it did little good. And the three cups of coffee he'd downed only seemed to make him feel worse. It didn't help that he hadn't slept much in the past few days, and despite the good doctor Beckett's best efforts – he seemed to feel drained more and more each day. The headaches he'd been having had been more annoying than anything, but they too were starting to wear him thin – also despite Carson's efforts.

It slightly disappointed him that the Scottish doctor had even cleared him for this mission, but after a few weeks of 'vacation,' he was starting to get restless. He knew he had to get back to work sooner rather than later, he just wished he felt better.

He wasn't surprised that he heard McKay before he saw him, nor did it surprise him to find his team and Weir standing in front of the Stargate waiting on him. Rodney seemed like a kid who'd just gotten the best gift ever – eyes wide and bright... it was annoying. Teyla was her normal self – calm, but ready for the mission. Ronon was his normal self, too – calm, quiet, kinda bored and not really interested in whatever Rodney was excited over. Weir simply looked between all three as McKay rambled on further, earning himself only a blank stare from the Satedan across from him, "Come on, Ronon. How can you not be excited about this? I mean, this energy signal could be-"

"A Z.P.M.?"

Rodney wheeled around to face John as he entered the Gate Room, "Um, yes?" Seeing John's small grimace, Rodney covered his tracks and spoke quickly, "Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say."

Ronon shot the scientist a skeptical look, "Sure it was."

John sighed once before finally stopping at the group, "Morning, kids." He waved at the techie at the DHD, ordering him to begin dialing.

Teyla nodded before frowning slightly, "Are you alright, Colonel?"

He looked up at her as he finished checking his vest, making sure he had everything he needed, "Yeah. I'm fine."

"That's good," John looked over at Weir as she spoke, "Strange energy readings aside, establishing good trade relations should be your first priority." Rodney's face fell slightly, and John smiled at him as the seventh chevron was locked and the Stargate activated.

Sheppard clasped Rondey on the back as he walked past him, "Don't worry, McKay. If we get done at the settlement in enough time, we can check it out."

McKay groaned, "Oh, like we have anything better to do."

_SGASGASGASGA_

The Stargate deactivated just behind Rodney and Teyla, a short distance in front of them, Ronon and John scanned the area – silently watching for danger. With only the sound of birds in the trees and McKay and Teyla's boots on the mossy ground, John decided to break the silence, "No one to greet us..." he mused, mostly to himself, rather than to his team.

Rodney was quick to voice a sarcastic question as he and Teyla stopped next to the other two, "And that's something new?"

Sheppard rolled his eyes, tolerating McKay's usual 'the-answer-should-be-obvious' attitude, before glancing at Teyla, "Which way?"

"This way," she said shortly as she took point, leading the team deeper into the thick forest. Sheppard fell in line behind her, McKay behind him and Ronan somewhere near McKay.

As the walked, John took a moment to really take in his surroundings. Thick tree trunks sprouted out of the ground, tall and massive. Ground and tree alike mostly covered in a thick green and brown moss. There were patches of grass here and there, some random shrubs that looked an awful lot like ivy to John. He looked up, the sky was dark and could barely be seen through the tree tops. Add in the fog that had begun rolling in soon after they had arrived, and it all summed up to one creepy forest. And that feeling only intensified as they pressed on. John sensed that Rodney was feeling the same way. It felt like there was something wrong with this forest. John stopped, "Anyone else getting a bad feeling about this place?" he asked pointedly.

"Y-yes?" The pilot looked behind him to see McKay with a hand raised nervously, then forward again at Teyla.

"This place has always felt this way, but once we are out the forest," She looked back at the three behind her, "Things will feel better."  
John grimaced slightly, "That's good to know..."  
"Woah..."  
John spun on his heel to face McKay, who'd pulled out his LSD. John made a face and started to scold the scientist, "McKay-"  
"Yes, yes, yes, hold on."  
John sighed and rubbed his temple, his headache had gotten worse and he was doing his best to ignore it while Rodney tried his patience.  
"Okay. There it is again."  
John walked closer, "There's what?"  
"The energy signal we picked up with the MALP. It just spiked."  
John looked around the thick forest, weighing his options. Go against orders and check out the spike, or continue on and let McKay whine about about it. He wasn't too keen a listening to whining...

"Alright," McKay looked up at him for a moment, "What have you got?"

Rodney began fiddling with the scanner again, pressing things on the screen and pad, "There's a field surrounding a large portion of the forest, most the forest around the 'Gate, in fact."

"Okay," John shifted his weight, "It is dangerous?"

Rodney groaned, "How should I know? Look, I can even pin-point the source of power. There's too much interference from all the other energy sources."

Sheppard narrowed his eyes slightly, "There's more than one?"

"Yes. Didn't I say that?" He looked at the other members of the team as they each shook their heads, "Okay, hold on. There's a source close..." he paused, and pointed the scanner here and there, "That way," a finally said, pointing the way towards the village and the end of the treeline.

Out beyond the treeline was the Village, dwarfed by the purple mountains further beyond the next patch of forest. Golden grass filled in the space around the settlement, waving in the cool breeze, seemingly greeting the off-worlders to their home. It held a much more pleasant feeling than the forest did.

John sighed, his curiosity very nearly getting the best of him, "Alright, let's check it out on our way back." He looked back at Rodney, "It's not going anywhere." Sheppard started forward, well aware that he would need pass through the field to get to the settlement. He paused where he felt the strange energy field might be, but he couldn't see anything, "Is it safe?"

"Again. How should I know?"

"I have been here many times," They all looked back at Teyla, "I have been to the settlement with no problems."

The Colonel turned back towards the village, "Okay. So safe, huh?"

McKay lingered behind, still playing with the scanner. Ronon brushed past him and Sheppard and stepped out beyond the treeline and turned back to face the others, "No problem."

John finally nodded and stepped through. He didn't feel anything at first, but then the headache from Hades returned with a vengeance and the world began to tilt and his vision began to darken. He felt himself falling slowly to the ground, the dirt and moss under his knees. He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, and he was dimly aware of hands on his shoulder and a face in front of him before his vision blanked completely and he felt himself falling further.

_TBC_

**A/N:** Chapter 1 wordcount: 1381.


	2. II

**A/N:** A "mostly" new chapter 2.  
**EDIT**: Added time stamps and fixed some grammar.

**CHAPTER II**

John blinked the spots in his eyes away as Carson finished checking his pupils. The doctor stood back, "There's nothing wrong with you, far as I can see. You are perfectly healthy." John nodded once. "The headaches still botherin' you?"

The pilot shook his head, "Not since I passed out." He jumped off the bed and looked at Carson with a smile, "Maybe I'll get some real sleep tonight. Thanks, Doc." Beckett smiled back with a nod, "Aye." Carson smiled again before watching John leave the Infirmary. It didn't make sense to him that the Colonel would pass out while on a simple mission. True, he hadn't been sleeping well because of his headaches, but that problem seemed to have taken care of itself.

Carson, however, was well aware that nothing was ever that simple in Atlantis.

_SGASGASGASGA_

He felt better, odd as it sounded. He head wasn't splitting open, and he could think clearly. It was refreshing to say the least. Of course, now that he could think clearly, there was yet another distraction.

Lunch. He realized that he didn't really get much of a breakfast, so it would only stand to reason that five hours later, he would need food. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he became aware of footfalls coming behind him, so he turned – to find no one behind him. He frowned and looked around, the sound came again, but this time he saw McKay coming up to him. That was weird. Rodney stopped short at the look on his friend's face, "You okay?"

"Y-yeah. Just... nevermind." He turned on his heel and started back towards the mess, dimly aware of Rodney coming up and matching his pace, "Headed to get some lunch?"

"Yeah... you?"

"Mm," he hummed in agreement, "So, ah, Millar's team was sent to, 566 to start trade negotiations, since ...we never got there."

"Yeah."

Rodney frowned slightly, "You sure your okay?"

John looked over at him, "Yeah. I'm fine. In fact," he started up the stairs to the mess, "I feel better now, than when we left for 566."

"Really? Cause you seem kinda..."

John spun to face him, "What?"

"I don't know, out of it?"

"Out of it?"

"Yeah."

"I'm fine, Rodney. I'll feel even better after I get something to eat."

Rubbing his hands together, McKay nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I know that feeling."

_SGASGASGASGA_

Groaning as he peeled his jacket off, John reminisced that perhaps getting into a tense sparring match with Ronon hadn't been the brightest of ideas. Plopping down on his bed, he tenderly pressed a finger to the cut over his left eyebrow. It wasn't huge, and didn't need stitches, but it still stung. He winced and pulled his hand away, letting it fall into his lap. Sighing, he pulled the radio's ear piece out and laid in in the stand before removing his boots and killing the lights. He suddenly felt tired and more drained than he ever had been in his life. A dull throb at the back of his skull caught his attention just moments before passing out, lucky enough for his head to hit the pillow before he was dead to the world.

_SGASGASGASGA_

"Colonel Sheppard, respond." Doctor Weir folded her hands in front of her as she waited for a response for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. It was already 09:00 hours and John's duty shift had started over a half hour ago, and while his track record for following orders wasn't great in past, he'd never been late for duty. Elizabeth looked over to Chuck, who was sitting at the Stargate Operations console, "Give me city wide."

The Canadian gave a curt nod before hitting the PA system for the city and nodded again at Weir. She waited a second before speaking, "John? Please respond." She waited a few moments, then shook her head at Chuck who turned the PA off.

Lifting a hand to her ear piece, she clicked the radio on, but never got the chance to say anything before a voice over took the frequency, Ronon's voice, _"Medical team to Sheppard's quarters."_

When Elizabeth arrived, Carson was already hard at work, and Ronon was standing to the side, "What happened?"

Shrugging, Ronan answered, "We had a sparring match this morning. He never showed, thought he just slept in. I came lookin' for him when I heard you on the radio. I couldn't wake him."

Weir nodded and her gaze shifted to Beckett, "Carson?"

The doctor ignored her for a moment, addressing the other three medical staff in the room, "Get him to the Infirmary." Carson sighed and walked over the Elizabeth and Ronon. "He's non-responsive, a comatose state. I'll need to run tests to find out why."

"Alright, Carson. Keep us updated."

"Aye."

_SGASGASGASGA_

Two hours later.  
11:30

The Atlantis Infirmary was quiet, and still. It was nearly midday, and most of the medical staff had gone to lunch – except Carson Beckett – who was sitting at his desk looking at a laptop. The screen showed several brain scans of Colonel Sheppard, all of them taken after returning from his previous mission. Carson wasn't too worried when they had first arrived; Sheppard had come out of worse scraps no worse for wear, but now, looking at these scans….

Carson leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his strained eyes. He clamped down on the bridge of his nose for a second as a headache threatened to come crashing in. He turned his head toward Sheppard's bed, and sighed worriedly. The Doctor closed the lid of his laptop, stood and moseyed over to the right of the Colonel's bedside, just opposite of the Heart monitor and EEG machine. He checked the connections, and looked at the monitors: Heart rate was 73 beats per second. But his brain was incredibly active – this only confirming the Scotsman's reason for worry.

He looked down at the Colonel. He had been changed out of his uniform, which he had obviously fallen asleep in, and into the white scrubs he now wore. He had taken a blood test soon after Ronon had called the Med Team to the Colonel's quarters, but he was still waiting for the results. Judging by the abnormal amount of activity in his brain – Doctor Beckett doubted that the tests would turn anything up. In fact he doubted that he would get any answers at all, from any test. There were no leads, no ideas, no theories that would point to a reason this had happened. Carson was well aware of John's lack of sleep thanks to the headaches that had been plaguing him. Could this simply be his body forcing him down to finally rest? Maybe. Carson thought back on John statement just after returning from his last mission. The cruel irony of it was too much, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose thinking of all the reasons this could be happening.

"Carson?" The doctor turned to see Elizabeth, Rodney, Ronon and Teyla walking up to him, "How is he?"

"No change," Carson said looking back at John's prone form. He then pointed to the monitors across the bed, "His vitals are all okay, the only thing that troubles me is his heightened brain activity. It's as if he's going about his daily life, while playing several advanced level Chess games at once." He allowed that to sink in only for a moment before continuing, "Also, Ronon got him in the head during last night's sparring match."

The four pairs of eyes rounded on the Satendan, and Ronon defended himself, "I didn't hit him that hard."

"Aye, he didn't. I cleaned the wound myself." All eyes returned to Beckett, "but look over his left eye," he motioned toward John and Ronon looked for himself.

"There's nothing there."

"Aye. The wound is completely healed."

"How-?" McKay backed up a bit, "He doesn't have any Nanites... does he?"

Carson shook his head, "No. I already scanned him."

A young nurse entered the scene with a tablet PC in hand, "Doctor? Colonel Sheppard's blood tests."

Carson took the tablet and dismissed the nurse, "Thank ya, love." As she left, the doctor looked over the results, "And there is no sign of the retro-Vitus in his system. Perfectly healthy."

"Well, aside from the mysterious coma," Elizabeth commented, and then paused to think. "If it possible that something on A5X-566 caused this?"

Rodney was the first to speak, "Um, possibly?"

"Take a science team. Find out."

McKay nodded, "Right," and walked out of the Infirmary with Ronon and Teyla close behind. Weir tapped her earpiece and contacted a small military team to accompany them to the planet.

_SGASGASGASGA_

5 hours later.  
16:30

"Unscheduled off world activation!"

Weir jumper to her feet, and fast walked to the Stargate Ops from her office. Elizabeth looked down at the technician who had made known the activation, "Do we have an IDC, Chuck?"

The Canadian looked down at a laptop to his right as an identification code came in and announced the user, "Yes, ma'am. It's Doctor McKay's IDC."  
"They're early," she said to herself, then looked back at Chuck, "Let them in."

The technician nodded, and lowered the force field covering the event horizon. Weir headed around the the various Ancient consoles and down the stairs as McKay's research team, Teyla and Ronon, and the small military team walked through the gate. McKay set down his equipment and the two teams behind him dispersed, taking equipment and weapons back to their proper places. Weir, Teyla and Ronon walked right up to Rodney, and Weir was the first to speak, "Find anything?"

Rodney looked down at his fingers and rubbed three of his fingers together, "Aside from the," he held his hands you to the three some to see the light dusting of green on them, "four inches of Alien moss on most every tree? No." He lightly rubbed his hands together in an attempt to get the moss of them, "We didn't find anything even remotely useful or helpful. There's way too much interference from the multiple power sources, and before that energy had spiked. Now it's just... sitting idle." An uncomfortable silence ensued until Rodney decided to cut through it, "How is he?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips together and folded her hands in front of her, "No change."

"Um… does Carson know what's wrong with him yet?"

Weir shook her head softly, "No, not yet," before she heard a Scottish brogue over her radio.

"_Dr. Weir?"_

She lifted a hand up to activate her radio, "Yes, Carson?"

"_He's awake."_

The four pairs of eyes met in understanding and Elizabeth responded swiftly, "On our way."

_TBC_

**A/N: **chapter 2 wordcount: 1857


	3. III

**A/N:** Chapter 3. Some sections have been recycled from the old chapters 3 and 4 and updated to fit with the new pace. Chapters look best at 3/4 or 1/2 instead of full page.

**CHAPTER III**

Carson stood at John's bedside, looking down below the messy mop of dark hair as hazel eyes slowly opened. John took a slow, lazy glance around the large room and closed his eyes again. Taking a breath, he spoke, "This is _not_ where I remember falling asleep..."

"You were late for duty. Ronon found you."

The pilot look up at the other man tiredly, not really awake enough to truly comprehend what the doctor was saying, "How long was I out?"

"It's been seven hours since we found you. Longer, I'd assume since you didn't report to duty or answer your radio."

"I had a re-match with Ronon this morning..."

"Glad you didn't forget." Carson moved to the side as Weir and the remainder of Sheppard's team entered and came up to his bedside. John focused on the speaker, Ronon sported a small grin – but that wasn't the only thing John had noticed, "Been having fun with out me, I see?" The vests that both Rodney and Teyla wore hadn't gotten past him. Rodney looked down at his hands, still slightly covered in moss. He raised one to show Sheppard, "If you call 'fun' digging around in alien moss," he dropped his hand back to his side, "Sure."

John nodded, a bit more aware of his surroundings now. "We went back to 566, to check out the energy field."

"You really thank that thing did something to me when Ronon walked through it no problem?"  
"Well, you did pass out afterwards."

"I already had the headache of the century."

"Headaches are one thing, but passing out from them-"

Carson finally decided to intervene, "Rodney's right. Headache or no, the coincidence is too great."

"Alright," John conceded, "When you put it that way..." He laid his head back and closed his eyes against the harsh lights – it was funny, he didn't remember the lights being that bright before...

"Before you fall asleep Colonel," Carson started, and grabbed a mirror – which by some stroke of luck happened to be close-by. John opened his eyes reluctantly and looked at Carson as he handed him the reflective metal. "The cut over your eye from last night."

John took the mirror in hand and held it up. He frowned at his reflection as he focused on the spot where there used to be a cut over his left eyebrow. He blinked once, not quite sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. The cut was no more, not even a scab or scar was left. Like it never happened. Logic told him that couldn't possibly be right, reason told him otherwise. His mind worked to figure out a solution that wouldn't end in a relapse of the retro-Vitus or tiny little robots running around in his veins. What he came up with was so simple, it was laughable.

He had slept for a lot longer than 7 hours. More like a whole week or more. But that wasn't right either... was it? His colleges, his friends wouldn't lie to him... would they? No. Of course not. "What is going on?" He was fully awake now, if not a bit panicked. It was impossible for a human to heal from a cut, even a small one in just over 7 hours. He knew that. He'd had his fair share of cuts and scraps to know that. He sat a small bit, looking between each of the five faces, none of them looked like they knew more than him.

"We don't know, John." His gaze settled on Elizabeth, and he saw the truth in her eyes. They really had no idea what was happening to him. And he felt fear trickle into his heart and down to settle in his gut in the form of butterflys. He looked down, unsure of what to say or do. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up at Carson. "We'll figure this out, son."

All John could do is nod mutely.

_SGASGASGASGA_

A5Z- AA7

The four man team emerged from the even horizon of the Stargate. Major Lorne scanned the area, "You know," the Major got his team's attention – which was made up of Lieutenant Malcom Lorenzo, Captain Matthew Davies and Doctor Benjamin Thomas, "It's nearly 17:00 hours in Atlantis, but it's... what? Early morning here?" One of his team members spoke up, "Maybe this planet's on the other side of the sun." Lorne looked at the young blond- haired man, "Actually, Lieutenant Lorenzo," he looked back at the seemingly never- ending grass plain, "It might be."

Lorne walked down the steps of the rise the Stargate was set in, and stopped four feet away as he waited for his team to catch up. "If were were in the same solar system as Atlantis." Evan looked around, not much to look at, but that didn't stop the action. "Okay, now. There's supposed to be an Ancient outpost on this planet, let's find it and be back before supper." Lieutenant Lorenzo pulled his LSD out of pocket in his vest and activated it. "There's a very strong energy signal coming from," he looked at scanner then towards a cluster of trees to North- west of the team, he took a finger and pointed towards the small forest, "over there." Major Lorne started in that direction, "Okay, let's go. Looks like we have a long walk ahead of us..."

_SGASGASGASGA_

Carson Beckett walked over to the bed were his most recent patient lie sleeping. He walked up the monitor that showed John's brain waves. He noticed that they were more active when he was asleep. Normally they were less active during sleep. This had some interest to Carson, but he still had no search parameters to input into the city's database. The doctor looked down at John's face, glad to see that he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. After assuring himself that all was well for now, he walked back to his office, fully intent on spending some time sifting through the database. Maybe he'd get lucky and find something before he died of old age...

30 minutes later.

Carson rubbed his eyes, strained from the laptop's screen. He didn't expect to find anything in only 30 minutes, but he had to try anyway. He leaned back in his chair not sure how to narrow down the search from a few million results to at least a few thousand. A four number figure he could deal with; a seven figure number was just strait daunting. He could think of no parameters to search by, nothing.

Carson's musings were interrupted by a voice calling his name. He stood from his desk as he recognized it as one of the nurses. "Yes?"

She stood by John's bedside, "I came to give him his evening meal. He won't wake, Doctor."

Carson needed no further words to move him into action, "Alright, thank ya, love." He checked the Colonel, the connections for the monitors, his heart rate and respiration. Removing the stethoscope from his ears, he put it around his neck and sighed. He reached up and activated his radio, "Dr. Weir, this is Dr. Beckett." He listened to her response, and then spoke regretfully, "I'm afraid the Colonel has slipped into another coma."

_SGASGASGASGA_

A5Z- AA7

After over a half hour of walking, and 20 minutes of the only scientist in his team complaining about the blisters on his feet, Lorne was more than relieved to have finally reached their destination. Had the trip been any longer, he would have shot the man with a stunner and packed him back to the gate. He looked around, in retrospect, the small 'forest' was not all that spectacular. Just a large circle of trees with a small clearing and a large man-sized rock jutting out of the grassy ground dead center. "Alright, make it quick. There's gotta be something here..."

Lorenzo pried out his hand held scanner, while Ben – the team's scientist, wandered around towards the central rock. He touched the rock and looked back over to Lorne, "The energy seems to be coming from here, but I can't tell for sure."

"A rock?"

"May not be just a rock, sir." Lorenzo ventured forward towards the rock. Lorne wasn't so sure, "Careful Lieutenant."

Lorenzo kept moving, "Yes, Sir." He held his own scanner to the slab as he stopped in front of it. He reached a hand out and the face of the stone shimmered. All members backed away and raised their weapons at it.

"What the-" he looked at Ben and Lorenzo, "What is that?"

"No idea..." Mal offered.

"Must be activated by the ATA Gene." Ben said. The three men all looked at Malcom, who shrugged and pointed to Lorne, "He has it, too."

Evan jumped to his own defense, "Yeah, but I didn't go near it." He looked between the men, "Look, let's just find out what it is."

"That may not be so hard..." Matthew looked back at the slab, "Could just ask them."

Weapons were raised once again as it was known to all that there were two beings standing there that were not there moments before.

Lorne studied the two new-comers with a critical eye, "Yeah..."

_TBC_

**A/N:** chapter 3 wordcount, according to Msword: 1597


	4. IV

**A/N**: Chapter 4. Editing the time stamp format in this one. HH:MM:SS following 24 hour/Military time. Five years later, I finally have it figured out. x_x

somebody, just... hit me with a shoe for being so dense.

Also, the setting has changed thanks to an error I made in the first or second chapter. Moved from just after "Aurora" in season 2, to somewhere between "Common Ground" and "the Return" in season 3.

Please, review. And not just "I like it, good job, please continue soon." Throw me a bone, give me something I can use. You are only telling me things I already know – I know I'm doing a good job..ish; and I DO plan on actually finishing this.

Tell me something I don't know, such as WHY you liked it. I can't read minds (though I would enjoy that endlessly) Or point out a continuity error for me that I may have missed. I don't need a novel, just something more than 8 words and punctuation.

Also, a big thanks to the people who have found this story wile digging through endless pages of FanFiction.

Your interest inspires me to write more.

Also, I have no Beta. If you are willing to put up with sporadic updates, send me a pm.

Um also. I started this chapter in August of 2010, sooo yeah. Long time. Sorry for the wait.

dontkillme.

Also, small heads up. Secrets now has it's own blog. secrets-sgafiction [dot] blogspot [dot] com

**CHAPTER IV**

Day 2 – 17:00:23

A5Z-AA7

Weapons were raised on both sides, neither side knowing what the other wanted nor their intentions. Had the team stumbled on an artifact that was protected by the inhabitants of this planet? They'd seen it before. It wasn't a huge stretch. The Ancients would drop something off, tell the locals to look after it till they came back. And 10,000 years later, they were still guarding it with their lives. Lorne looked over the two armed men, the first thing he noticed, were their weapons. Not bows and arrows or swords, as was the norm thanks to the Wraith, but compact hand held pistol-shaped guns. Possibly energy weapons of some type. Only the Genii and Satedans had seemed to get as far as projectiles in this galaxy.

The other thing was their dress. Uniforms, most likely, made up of tans and off-whites. Their belts and holsters seemed to be made of leather – or some fabric substitute. They seemed vaguely familiar, but the Major couldn't pin-point from where or when.

As he sized the two up, they seemed to size his team up, their intense studying was disconcerting and Lorne was about ready to say something just to ignore the feeling. The light colored guard to the right barked off a question first, "Who are you, and from where do you come?"

Lorne swallowed, well aware that Atlantis' survival from a nuke was still under wraps, "Until recently," he paused for some effect, just long enough to make it appear as if saying the name of the great city caused him pain, "Atlantis."

The guard narrowed his eyes with suspicion and titled his head slightly. Clearly, the name was familiar to him, "'Until recently'," he repeated.

Lorne nodded regretfully – keeping the guise quite well, considering it was a lie, "Destroyed to... keep it out of Wraith hands." One guard looked at the other silently and they lowered their weapons. Lorne's men relaxed and lowered their own weapons slowly. The guard on the left spoke this time, "_If_ you once came from Atlantis, then the Council will want to speak with you."

The Major nodded and looked at the rest of his team. They still had another three and half hours before they had to check in, "Alright... lead the way."

Stepping forward, the guard on the right reached out with a hand, "Your weapons, please."

Matt's grip on his P-90 stiffened, and he looked sideways at the Major with uncertainty, "Sir..."

"Captain..." Lorne silently considered his options, which were few. He finally made his mind up after few agonizing seconds that felt like minutes, "Do as the man says."

A low chorus of 'yes sir' sounded as the team removed their Tac Vests and weapons and handed them over. The guards each took two vests and set them down to one side of the rock slab, "You may retrieve these when you return."

"Return from where?" Lorne questioned.

"Locultus."

"And where is that?"

A knowing smile rose on the left guard's face as he reached toward a obsidian colored jewel looking object on the slab. Lorne idly wondered if that had been there before. Another thing he didn't see there was another, larger jewel at the top-front of the slab. It glowed white as the one guard touched the smaller one below it, and Lorne forced himself not to step back. A wide beam shot out from the top 'jewel' and all those standing in front of it vanished, leaving the rock the only thing standing. But soon it, too, faded from sight, leaving only tall grass waving in the breeze.

_SGASGASGASGA_

Day 2 – 17:10:45

Atlantis

The mess hall was a buzz with people milling about, sitting, talking, and laughing as they enjoyed their evening meal. The sound of metal utensils against plastic trays filled the room under the noise of voices, and chairs scraping across the alien floor – a samba of noise became music with the voices of the humans the chorus. This is usually what Elizabeth thought of when she was here, not thinking of the mound of paperwork at her desk, or the mission reports that needed reading and filing. But right now, her mind was on a single subject, and it worried her most. There was no change in John's condition, if anything, he had only gotten worse. Carson speculated that, if this continues as it is, John would begin to suffer seizures. And if it went on for very long, he may come out of the coma with brain damage.

Or he might not wake up at all.

Elizabeth tried not to dwell on that fact. It was only a worse case scenario, which she had admittedly asked for. Whether she liked the prognosis or not. She took a sip of her coffee, and grimaced down at the now cold liquid, the heat long gone. Setting the mug down, she stared into the dark substance, and if she looked hard enough, she could see her reflection. It was a tired face – not at all surprising given all that's happened.

The woman rolled her tense shoulders, silently wishing she could get some sleep but knowing she wouldn't be able to. She vaguely registered footfalls on the ground behind her, and it wasn't long before Teyla's friendly face appeared in her vision, a tray holding a minimum amount of food in the other woman's hands. Weir smiled up at her, a tired worried smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"May I join you?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Of course," and the Athosian gratefully sat down opposite of her and slowly began to dig into her food. It was clear that she wasn't too interesting in eating, but did so anyway.

"No change?"

Elizabeth looked up from her cold coffee to Teyla, "No. Nothing yet." She paused, "have you been into see him?"

Teyla nodded once, "Yes… though I find it hard to see him like this. And we are powerless to help him."

"For now," She looked the Athosian in the eyes, "We'll think of something." She had the upmost confidence in Beckett, but she still worried for John.

_SGASGASGASGA_

Dead ends seemed to be the theme of the day for Carson. One moment, he thought he might be cracking this mystery wide open, and then it all fell down around him. He exhaled, rubbed his eyes and looked over at the still comatose John. Carson had no answers, no clues or direction. The Ancient database had turned up nothing… actually; Carson had given up in that direction. Without a more direct search query, it would be impossible to find anything useful.

While Carson had given up, Rondey hadn't. The doctor looked over at a computer plugged into the database. It had been running a complex search program that Rodney had created for hours, cross referencing Sheppard's case with all the information in the database. It would still take hours, but at least Carson wasn't frying his own mind to do it.

He rubbed his face again.

Coffee.

That's what he needed. Coffee. Perhaps getting out of the confined area of the Infirmary would be good as well. Standing, he headed toward the Mess hall. As Carson headed out into the hallway and the doors closed behind him, the computer running the search program beeped once. Attention grabbing red letters adorned the screen, flashing slowly.

MATCH FOUND

_SGASGASGASGA_

Day 2: 17:15:10

Unknown Planet

Lorne had to admit one thing. This place was impressive, not so much in looks as the people themselves. The Major had finally pinpointed the feeling of Déjà Vu, when he saw the spire rising from the ground, like the central spire in Atlantis, and a rather large village (town?) spreading out around it. Some buildings looked they'd been there for years, and weren't going to move, others looked less permanent. Like they could be taken down and moved someplace else. Not quite tents, but not quite houses either.

The base of the spire was thicker than the Atlantis', possibly housing a great many rooms and halls. The whole thing amounted to about half the size of Atlantis itself, which was again: impressive. Impressive that these, simple by appearance, people could build all this; though, judging from the architecture, the Ancients gave them a leg up.

"Locultus," the guard to their right gestured toward the town from the rise they stood on, "Come. The Council has been made aware of your presence and they are waiting." The group made their way down the hill, heading down the center of the town, earning them looks from a few who stopped their work to gaze upon the visitors.

"Um," Major Lorne spoke up, "So, where are we? We were obviously teleported somewhere."

"You are correct." The guard on their left spoke, "You are no longer on the same planet as you were before."

Lorne wasn't surprised by this, there was an extra sun hanging the sky, "So, what planet are we on?"

They stopped at the base of the spire, "You are on Arcadia, in the province of Locultus."

Evan looked gazed upward, spying out the top of the tower – he guessed that is where the Council met. He could be wrong, though. A thought came to Evan that these people, who were all dressed similarly, could be human form Replicators, and he hoped they weren't. Or at least that they were nicer than the ones they met before.

Matt came up to Lorne when their escorts moved into the base of the spire, "Sir," he whispered. Lorne was quick to answer, sensing what the Captain was about to say, "I know. Let's hope they aren't who we think." He started following their escort into the spire, off to meet the Council.

_Take us to your leader._

_SGASGASGASGA_

Day 2: 17:20:05

Arcadia - The Spire

The inside of the spire was a lot like the outside: a busy hive of bodies. Everyone seemed to be wearing uniforms denoting their role, medical, scientific (It was hard to tell those apart at first glance), and military (who seemed well armed in comparison to the rest). Lorne noticed a few children milling about, possibly learning their trade. Unlike most people they ran into that had taken up residence in places the Ancients had built, these people seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Bringing the Major, once again, back to the possibility that these people were Replicators; and again, Lorne hoped they weren't. But if they weren't what were they?

Ancients?

The idea that they were Ancients almost made Evan laugh out loud, but he restrained himself. Not only would he earn himself the very many strange looks of both his team and these people; he would have to explain himself. He thought it best to remain professional in this case - which was good, because in no time, they had been lead to the doors that lead to the Council chamber, and he was reminded, again, of Atlantis. The doors swung open and the team was ushered inside. Five men sat in chairs on one side of a long, half oval table. The man in the center of the table looked to be oldest and the leader, if the way he was dress was any indication as to his status.

"Come forward, off-worlders. I am Adamus, Grand Councilor." The man in the center gestured for them to come closer and the doors swung close behind them. Lorne stepped forward and the rest of his team stayed a step behind. The Major introduced his team to the Council, and they like wise. From left to right, there was Clemens (a man with blonde hair just starting to gray), Egidius (who had a very unusual set of blue eyes). On the other side of Adamus, there was Leolinus (possibly the youngest of the group with solid brown hair), and the last was Nicholas (a tall fellow with salt and pepper gray hair) Adamus spoke, "The Portal Guards tell us that you once came from Atlantis."

Lorne nodded, "That's right, Sir. It um… was destroyed to keep it out Wraith hands."

The leader leaned back in his chair, "I see," he seemed thoughtful for a moment, "Where is your homeworld? Certainly you don't hail from Atlantis originally. Lorne glanced at his team, one of which shrugged subtly, "No, Sir. We don't. We discovered the city over about three years ago."

Adamus, noticing that the Major failed to answer his question, leaned his arms on the table before him, "But where is your homeworld?" The Grand Councilor noticed that Lorne was reluctant to say, "I understand your reluctance, Major. But understand that you are on my homeworld, and I wish to know from where visitors come from."

Finally, the Major gave in, "Earth."

"Interesting," Nicholas started, "I wasn't aware the humans there were capable of space flight – much less capable of reaching the galaxy you came from."

Lorne peered at the Councilor, "The galaxy we came from, as in Earth's galaxy?"

"No. I refer to the galaxy that Atlantis was left in ten-thousand years ago."

Lorne was confused, "So what galaxy are we in now?"

Adamus smiled slightly, "Earth's, as you say. I believe your people call it, the 'Milky Way'."

Lorne looked between the Councilors, "The portal, did your people make that?"

Adamus nodded, "Yes, many years ago, when we first came to this planet. There is no Stargate on this world, so we devised another means of transport between the two galaxies."

Impressive seemed to be the word of the day. Once again, a thought ran across Lorne's mind, and this time he couldn't help but asking, "Who are you?"

_TBC_

**A/N**: 1610 words according to M$ word


	5. V

**A/N**: Just to be clear, if a certain scene doesn't have a time stamp, it happens during the previously stated time stamp.

Thank for all the story favs/alerts and reviews!

Also, if the writing style seems to change a bit, I started this chapter **well** over a year ago and have been sitting on it waiting for the muse to finish it. Hopefully it was worth the wait.

**CHAPTER V**

Day 2: 18:10:03  
Atlantis

"Are you sure?" Elizabeth sat down in a chair at the briefing room table. Lorne and Matt sat on the other side of the table, "That's what the man said. Not sure I believe it myself, but their technology is pretty advanced, and they seem to know what they are doing."

Weir folded her hands on the table, "And you're sure they aren't Replicators."

Lorne paused, "No, Ma'am. But if they were, would they call themselves Ancients?" She leaned back in her chair, deep in thought. Lorne continued, "The Replicators we ran into weren't so fond of them."

"No, they weren't. Which is what worries me, Major. Replicators are smart-"  
"_Doctor Weir."_ Elizabeth raised a finger to her earpiece, "Yes, Carson."  
"_Rodney and I have something you'll need to see. We're outside the briefing room."  
_"Come in," she looked up when the doors swung open and Carson and Rodney entered both looking sullen and yet, there was this light in Rodney's eyes….  
"Rodney's search program found a match in the city's database."  
"Did it?" Rodney was holding a folded laptop, which he set down on the table and opened up for Elisabeth to see, she looked up at Carson for an explanation. "The program found this about an hour ago, but I wanted to be absolutely sure before bringing it to you."  
"He said my program was malfunctioning."  
Carson retaliated, "It had to be, there's no way it's possible."  
Weir glanced at Lorne and Matt before quickly intervening, "No way 'what' is possible?"  
Carson leaned over and pointed at something on the screen, and Weir's eyebrows rose in surprise.

_SGASGASGASGA_

Arcadia, Locultus  
The Spire

The town around the spire was winding down, people closing shops and people heading home to be with their families; a far cry from the busy area Lorne and his team had encountered just an hour before. High within the spire, Adamus watched with keen, but aged eyes. So much time had passed since their retreat from Atlantis; 10,000 years gone by. Obviously the Wraith were still a threat, but none of that mattered to his people.

Not anymore.

The Grand Councilor thought back to the two humans who remained behind when their Major and Captain returned to speak with their leader. One of the Portal Guards, Dionysus, took them to his home for the evening until their Major returned. Kind of him to do so, Adamus thought, considering he was bringing strangers in among his family. Their young son would no doubt enjoy questioning the Earthlings.

A steady beeping behind him caught his attention and he turned towards his spartan office and walked up to the desk. He pressed a button down on a panel, "Yes?"  
"_Grand Councilor, there is a message for you. It's encrypted."  
_"Very well, send it to my office."  
"_Etiem, Domin."_

Adamus walked around his desk and settled himself down in his chair, while his computer set to decrypting the message. It was done quickly, and Admaus played the message and watched with interest. The voice was deep, a typical trait of his species, _"Grand Councilor Admaus of the Alteran world Arcadia. I am sending you my terms for our alliance. I trust you will find them… acceptable."_ The voice paused, _"I await your reply with terms of your own. You have 3 solar days to reply, or our truce will be forfeit."_ Adamus rested his elbows on the desk; hands folded and chin resting on his folded hands. The demands he was making were great, and most – if not all – his people would protest.

But in order to protect his people, he had no choice but to accept the terms presented. But first, he must inform the Council of the Alliance. Adamus stood and strode out of his office, knowing full well the Council would not be pleased that he made an arrangement without their consult.

_SGASGASGASGA_

Day 2: 18:15:10  
Atlantis

"Oh my God," Elisabeth's eyes met Carson's, and she knew it was true, that there was no other explanation. Evan and Matt sat up, suddenly interested in what was going on, "What's going on?" Evan asked.  
Carson looked at the pair, "Colonel Sheppard…" he paused, looking at Weir for a brief moment, "Colonel Sheppard is an Ancient."

Evan sat back, stunned and unsure what to say. Finally, he nodded, "Well, that's lucky. We just found people who claim to be Ancients."  
Rodney was surprised, his eyes glinting with child like glee, "What, really?" he looked between the two men, "Seriously; how many people?"  
"We only saw a small town; around twelve-hundred, maybe more. They have a Council there."  
"If they are Ancients," everyone's eyes fell on Carson, "I think we are going to need their help. Colonel Sheppard's getting worse. They might know what's wrong with him, and be able to help him."

Weir leaned forward on the table, "And what if they can't?"  
"We don't have much of an option left, Elizabeth," Carson's face was serious, "If we don't get help for him soon, he will die."

_SGASGASGASGA_

Arcadia, Locultus  
Dionysus' Home

Ben and Mal found themselves sitting comfortably in a small, but cozy home. Dionysus' wife, as it turns out, was an amazing cook. Ben wasn't totally sure what most of it was – though the meat tasted just like chicken, the best chicken he'd ever had in his life. Both men sat back in their chairs, bellies full and honestly ready for a good night's sleep. But, they had been ordered to wait here till they came back, which they hoped was soon. Dion's son, Hadrianus, had been full of questions for the newcomers, and even though the Alteran's knowledge of the universe was vast, and the kid probably knew more than either of the Earthlings, all that 'read-it-in-a-book' stuff was not comparable to a more hands on approach – such as asking someone who actually lived and was born on another world.

The boy had been slightly disappointed to learn that Arcadia and Earth were really very similar, there were some differences in the flora and fauna, mostly the fauna, if the six-legged four foot cat/dog looking creature that some in the village kept as pets and protectors were anything to go by. Hadrianus himself had a pup as a pet… who was currently pawing at Mal's leg, looking for attention. His long, pink tongue hung from his mouth, where lots of sharp needle-like teeth were neatly arranged. Malcolm cast wary look to Ben, who shrugged helplessly. The pup had been good enough all night, basically just like a pup from Earth, wanting no more than the attention of its bipedal masters. Mal pulled in a breath, "I'm not really a... dog person."  
Ben chuckled at his teammate's obvious discomfort, "He's not a shark, Mal."  
"He's got the teeth for it."

Ben had to concede that point and he decided to 'rescue' the other man from fierce pup who had taken to Mal's boot-strings like a cat to a ball of yarn. "Here, boy," he called, gathering the pup's attention with a snap of his fingers. The creature bounded over a licked the human's hand eagerly as the man smoothed the feather like plumage on the pup's head down, an act that had the youngster rolling and exposing his belly for more rubs.

A sound very reminiscent of a door bell had the pup "barking" and running for the door, all six legs scrambling awkwardly on the slick floor. Dionysus softly hushed the creature, _"Placo,"_ as he came into the room and opened the door. "Ah, Major Lorne." Ben and Mal stood quickly and moved into the entry way as Dion allowed Lorne and Matt to enter his home. "Sir," Ben asked, "What did Weir say?"  
Lorne looked at Ben for a moment but it was Dion that received a question, "Dionysus, we need your help."

**A/N**: 1,303 words.  
_Etiem, Domin_ –Yes, Sir.  
_Placo_ – Quiet


End file.
